What is Music IP
When we talk about music IP (intellectual property), we’re talking about the copyright of a piece of music. Copyright is different from other types of IP, like patents or trademarks, because you don’t need to register it. You create something original, put it in a tangible form, and boom—your work is protected by copyright. It only protects expressions, not ideas. (So even copyright law is reminding us procrastinators to take action sooner, delay no more!)
What Rights Come With Owning Copyright?
If you own the copyright, you get to make copies of your work, adapt it, sell it, perform it publicly, and share it online. You can also prevent others from doing any of these to your work.
Fun Question
How long does a work need to be to be protected under copyright law? Can I just make two notes and claim I own the copyright to this ‘music’?
There’s no simple answer—it depends. But it’s cool to know that the five-note theme in Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Re, Mi, Do, Do, So) (with the second Do an octave lower than the first) is copyrightable. (Source: All You Need to Know About the Music Business by Donald S. Passman, 11th edition)
Fun Question
I really like someone’s song—can I use their song name for my band?
Yep, you totally can! Lady Gaga got her name from Radio Gaga by Queen, The Rolling Stones took theirs from Rolling Stone by Muddy Waters, and Radiohead named themselves after Radiohead by Talking Heads. (Source: Copyright Law in the Music Business, Dr. E. Michael Harrington, Berklee Online via Coursera)